Inman on Tour: Increase the volume of real estate success in Nashville! Connect with industry pioneers and top speakers, gain powerful insights, cutting-edge strategies and valuable connections. Increase your business and achieve your most audacious goals – all with Music City Magic. Sign up now.
In 2024, he turned 65 years old than any other time in history. And that number will only continue to grow until 2027. As the baby boomer generation turned 65, economists created this generational change as a silver tsunami. He is wealthier than his predecessor.
As a result, we are poised to carry out the transfer of vast generations of wealth, with great significance and opportunity for smart real estate professionals.
The key to taking advantage of the generational change in real estate is to understand and adapt the changing needs of the various generations involved in buying and selling homes today. Real estate professionals can expect multiple generations to be involved. 36% of General Z and millennial home buyers expect families to help fund the down payment of their homes.
With this in mind, there are three tips to help you interact with clients across generations.
Tap an existing resource
You don’t have to be of the same generation to serve your clients, but you need to understand the clear preferences, thoughts and motivations of different demographics. Kendara, a real estate advisor for Engel & Valkers, is working on this by assembled what he calls an “unofficial board.”
He regularly sits with other professionals and business leaders in his network, whether they are millennials, Gen X, or baby boomers, and what is relevant to them, how they run. Or insist on finding out what they are thinking about real estate, and other aspects of life. This type of market research is nothing more than a meal or a cup of coffee, but it can work very well in bringing insight into the large range of your market’s consumer population.
Take an “advisor” approach to client services
With so much information (good and bad) available at our fingertips, it’s more important than ever to think about the value real estate professionals bring to client interactions for generations is.
You cannot simply be an agent in this market, but rather an advisor who brings experience, Intel and guidance to the home buying and/or sales process. Being attentive, available, flexible and most importantly, becoming a client resource.
When they bring in a list of 15 to see for one weekend, it’s up to you to figure out what they’re really looking for by asking and listening to the right questions, and sometimes you’re You can push back when you know a particular list isn’t worthy of their goal.
We share as much information as possible and bring the most value to make the right decisions while learning about our clients’ needs both inside and outside of the real estate. Here, industry experience and know-how truly proves its value.
Also, when taking an advisory approach, consider the lifetime value of your clients, including opportunities to serve children and even grandchildren. Like wealth transfer, knowledge transfer across generations is very realistic.
Bob Nathan of Engel & Völkers Scottsdale increasingly found himself working with his friends’ children when he bought his first or second home. The tactics that worked for him rely on existing relationships he has with these young buyers, adopting the “uncle bobby” approach when helping them through the process, and taking the most sincere interest It’s friendly and fun while giving real honest recommendations.
Best practices will continue to apply
No matter what generation you work for, industry best practices still apply. For example, don’t make the mistake of assuming that all Gen Zers communicate exclusively through text or that all baby boomers prefer phone calls. As clients are still individuals, please ask and listen to their unique communication preferences and don’t be afraid to adapt their style accordingly.
Similarly, invest in a strategic blend of traditional and digital marketing channels to make sure you’re where your customers are. Consider a combination of home ads, postcards, newspapers, magazine ads, and targeted online campaigns. The channels with the highest impact may vary by demographic, but we focus on investing in platforms that are looking at the best ROI, focusing on matching the message.
Community involvement is also key to the success of real estate professionals. However, this does not need to mean investing a lot of time, money and resources to create and host your own events. You know what events are happening in communities that already bring in key demographic attendance, and whether they’re present or sponsored.
These can be wine and food festivals, fashion events, and even farmers’ markets. Giving back has been a priority for consumers for generations, so think about how to become part of community events and causes that affect social and environmental causes.
For all generations, first customer service
Despite the changes in demographics, it is still about individual client services. Yes, wealth is transferred, but clients are still individuals, whether they are Z, millennials or baby boomers. Real estate professionals need to remain flexible to reach and engage with clients for generations, but services must always be tailored to the client’s unique needs and preferences There is.
Katelyn Castellano is Senior Vice President of Americas Marketing at Engel & Völkers. You can connect with her on LinkedIn.
